


oh your love is sunlight

by FeralCreed



Category: The Losers (2010)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Romantic Fluff, and keep the cat, really this is just two thousand words of unapologetic fluff and family, the bond between a cranky sniper and the cat he said he didn't want, they find a cat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-22
Updated: 2019-05-22
Packaged: 2020-03-09 19:51:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18923902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeralCreed/pseuds/FeralCreed
Summary: “Aw, come on,” Jensen says. “Why not get a kitten for a Cougar?” He holds up the fuzzy little thing as it mews pitifully, and Cougar fixes Jensen with an unimpressed glare.“No,” he says, and then frowns when Jensen gives him a sad look.





	oh your love is sunlight

“Aw, come on,” Jensen says. “Why not get a kitten for a Cougar?” He holds up the fuzzy little thing as it mews pitifully, and Cougar fixes Jensen with an unimpressed glare. 

“No,” he says, and then frowns when Jensen gives him a sad look. 

Jensen is the kind of guy that loves animals. It's no surprise to anyone on the team, since he routinely spends his downtime gushing over the pictures on animal adoption sites and feeds all the strays that wander up to their safehouses. At some point, everyone's had a laptop shoved in their face and been expected to appreciate some puppy or bird. Cougar is exempt, not because of lack of reaction, but because he'd once pointed at a picture of a teacup piglet in boots and said 'bacon'. Jensen had been highly insulted and gone to show the same picture to Clay, who had simply stared at him and asked what the hell he was supposed to do with an image of a pig. 

Cougar isn't very fond of pets. He hadn't grown up with them, and he wasn't about to get one while he was on active duty and routinely disappeared for months or years at a time. Working dogs, he likes those, because they're intelligent and well trained and help soldiers get back home to their families. But all he really knows about pets is that dogs are known for chewing up shoes and cats are known for scratching up furniture. He doesn't much like the idea of having something around that only exists to damage his things. Hell, if he wants something big and extroverted and prone to clumsiness, he'll just ask Jensen to come with him somewhere. 

The same Jensen who's still trying to shove a baby cat in his face. They're in Peru, on the homeward side of a mission, when the kitten wobbles out of an alley and practically under their feet. Cougar does an awkward half-step to avoid squishing the little creature and his graceless movements catch Jensen's attention. And once he sees the kitten, well, that's it. He's been holding it ever since he saw it, cooing all kinds of sweet nothings, and Cougar is quickly realising that he's not planning on setting it down. 

“You cannot take it home,” he points out. It takes a lot of papers to get an animal across national borders, he's pretty sure, and he'd bet that Jensen is not thinking very far ahead. Not to mention that neither of them have an actual home. Cougar's got family, but he hasn't spoken with them in years, and even though Jensen's in close contact with his sister and niece, he lives on his own when he has downtime Stateside. 

Jensen might be impetuous but he has a good heart. He won't bring an animal home if he realises he can't care for it properly. The only thing is, he's clearly already attached to the furball, and Cougar's starting to think that it's going to cause a lot of heartache if he makes the other man leave the cat right here and now. But it's better than waiting three or four days. By then, Jensen will have let the thing sleep with him every night and given it a name and probably a collar. Clay will turn it into a fight when he pulls rank and says it has to stay, and then he's going to have to deal with even more pouting. 

Cougar lets Jensen take the cat back to the motel with them. He still thinks it's a bad idea, but he is ridiculously helpless when it comes to Jensen's blue eyes and hopeful look. Besides, part of him thinks that Jensen will give up on the idea the first time that the cat pees on his bed or scratches him. It's the annoying part of pet ownership that makes people give up on it, isn't it? 

An hour and a half later, he's sitting on the bed, trying to ignore the kitten that keeps trying to catch the cleaning rag hanging from his fingers. It's hard going. Jensen comes in from a talk with Clay, and Cougar's gaze only flicks up to his face for a moment before he goes back to concentrating on his rifle. The kitten, however, scampers over to try hunting Jensen's untied shoelaces. She yowls indignantly when she's picked up and held against the man's chest. 

“I'm going to give her a bath,” Jensen decides. “She's filthy. And I'm sure she has fleas and you'll probably bitch at me if they get all over our stuff.” 

Cougar raises an eyebrow and clenches his jaw ever so slightly. _You don't say._

“You wanna help?” Jensen asks, and Cougar snorts under his breath and drops his gaze back to his rifle. It's obviously a no. Jensen isn't deterred in the slightest and carries the kitten into the bathroom so he can run warm water in the sink. 

Cougar's determined to ignore whatever stupidity Jensen is up to, as he usually does, but then there's a screaming noise from the bathroom that startles him so badly he drops the latch pin. What the hell is that? Did the kitten turn into some kind of demon the second it got wet? He sets aside the rifle near the collection of parts laid out on the bed and gets up to search for the pin. Once he finds it, he tosses it onto the pile of parts and goes to see what eldritch creature is apparently giving Jensen the fight of his life. 

It's a pretty hilarious sight. Jensen has the kitten at arm's length, eyes wide, staring at it like it's a live grenade someone tossed into his hands. The animal in question is anything but intimidating as it scrabbles around in the sink basin looking half drowned. And then of course Jensen tries to pick it up and howls in pain when it sinks its claws into his hand. Cougar can only sigh and go to rescue a trained soldier in prime condition from a baby animal that doesn't weigh five pounds soaking wet. He grabs the kitten by its scruff, murmurs _cálmete, cálmete, pequeña_ as he runs his fingers through its tangled fur in search of any hidden injuries, and waits until the water rinses clean before he hands her back off to Jensen. He doesn't get Jensen a towel to dry her off and certainly doesn't give her a quick scratch behind her ears.

* * *

By the time their extraction plans finalise three days later, the kitten has been named Morado. She's also been bathed, hand fed table scraps, and using Jensen's pillow for a bed. Cougar doesn't mind the last part so much, because it just means that Jensen is sleeping with his head on Cougar's chest instead. But Jensen has also been stubbornly resisting the idea that he'll have to leave Morado where they are, and redirects the conversation every time it comes up. Cougar's not exactly sure what he can do about it but he hates the thought of seeing Jensen's face when the two of them are split up. He'll just have to do something about it, and he knows exactly who to ask. 

He takes the book out of Pooch's hands and feels a slight amount of satisfaction at the way Pooch looks somewhat intimidated. When he needs something from someone, he wants to make sure he has their undivided attention. Nobody's going to die if he doesn't get Jensen his cat, but he's taking this as seriously as any of his other missions. Maybe it's because Jensen is far more important to him than just about everything he's done in his line of work. 

“Morado,” he says. “Jensen knows how to forge papers. You know how to get sensitive content out of the country. ¿Entender?” 

“Yeah, the Pooch gets it.” 

Cougar hands him his book back and leaves without another word. Pooch is a smart man who can get anything anywhere. He's the best choice for transporting not only people but packages as well, and Cougar doesn't want this to get messed up. Jensen obviously loves Morado, and Cougar always does everything he can to keep Jensen happy. He might not be particularly attached to the cat himself, but he's sure he'll get used to her being around. He's acclimated to far worse things and he has a good reason to make an effort with this.

* * *

They get Morado into America. Cougar's let Jensen do his illegal hacker thing so far, but once they get her into the country, he puts his foot down. They take Morado to a veterinarian to get her spayed and vaccinated and microchipped. And then, since she's going to be kept at the vet's overnight for observation, Cougar takes Jensen to a pet store to buy toys and a better bed. He thinks it will help keep the man's mind off of everything that could go wrong during the surgery recovery, but he doesn't try to hide how he's judging the amount of money that Jensen spends. It's one kitten, how much could it need? 

For once, Jensen hasn't gotten his own apartment on leave. His sister Jess has a spare room in her house and agrees to keep Morado when Jensen's not in the country. So he – and Cougar, by default – are staying with them until they get called back out of the country on another mission. Cougar hadn't been entirely sure that he'd fit in with Jensen's family, but Jess had welcomed him with open arms. And her daughter Beth, the infamous niece who played on the Petunias, almost immediately decided to call him her uncle. Cougar still isn't sure how he fits into this little family unit, but he thinks he likes the sound of 'Tio Cougar' quite a bit.

* * *

Cougar lies in bed, watching the wall across from him light up from grey to blue as the sun rises. He rarely gets nightmares, with Jensen's warmth wrapped around him, even though sometimes he still can't sleep through the night. But these mornings are quiet and soft. There's none of the post-nightmare adrenaline that makes his hands shake and his chest feel three sizes too small. There's no drive to escape his own head, to find alcohol to numb the pain so he doesn't even have to think. Instead there's an arm around his waist and Jensen's breath puffing against the back of his neck. 

It makes him feel safe. Not just the fact that it's Jensen here with him. Their whole life – Jess, Beth, Morado, going to Petunia games every Saturday, having Jensen at his side during the Mass he goes to once a month. It was what he wanted for years before he'd had a chance. Little more than a fever dream at first, but then they'd had a chance at making it reality. When they'd killed Max, when Cougar felt the peace of twenty-five children receiving their eternal rest, he asked Jensen to retire with him. 

_Ven a casa conmigo, mi amor,_ he'd whispered into Jensen's skin. They'd been curled up in bed together, skin warm against skin, with Jensen's fingers carding through his hair. Cougar had always despised his head being touched by strangers, but Jensen was always so gentle and comforting that Cougar had never thought twice about giving him permission. And Jensen had gone with him. They'd found a house in New Hampshire, half an hour's drive from Jess, and Cougar had suffered through hours upon hours of furniture shopping so that it could be decorated to his lover's tastes. 

And it all brought him here. To a bed large enough for the two of them to spread out comfortably, in a house full of vibrant colours and the music from Cougar's guitar and the art from Jensen's sketchbook. Where Morado has the run of the place now that she's an adult. Where Jensen will kiss him just because, and Cougar will tilt his chin up into it and kiss him back. Where there's a spare bedroom for when Beth insists on staying with them for a week in the summer. 

There's a soft jingling noise as Morado trots into the room, bell swinging on her collar. Jensen had insisted on belling her after the fourth time she scared the shit out of him, and had suggested doing the same to Cougar, which had been met with a flat glare that said it would not be happening. Jensen laughed about it anyway and kissed the disapproving frown off his mouth. Morado pauses in a patch of sunlight from the window, tail swishing back and forth as she eyes a dust mote floating to the ground. Then she looks up at the bed as she stalks toward it, and Cougar knows the signs of a cat getting ready to pounce. 

She lands next to him and rubs her face against his cheek. He closes his eyes to avoid getting poked with one of her ears or whiskers, but cracks one back open when she paws at his arm. No doubt she's hungry and wants attention, but he doesn't want to get up yet. She'll have to wait. It won't hurt her to be fed an hour late. Jensen keeps sneaking her treats like he thinks Cougar is blind or something. It's kind of funny. Morado finds it less amusing when he refuses to get up, and lays down against his chest to start purring. 

“¿Qué es, estúpida?” he murmurs, his voice rough from sleep but still fond. 

“Knew you were lying when you said you didn't want a cat,” Jensen mumbles, shifting closer to him. He slides an arm over Cougar's waist, fingers brushing up across his chest before his hand rests on Morado's side. “Or maybe you just love me enough to change your mind.” 

“Why not both?” he asks, and smiles when he feels rather than hears Jensen huff out a laugh. No, it's not only the man lying behind him who makes this home, but he has a damn large part in it. “Te amo, Jake.” 

“Yo también te amo, cariño,” Jensen replies. It was the first thing he learned to say in Spanish, and even now, there's a little thrill of affection in Cougar's chest to hear it. He puts his hand on top of Jensen's, laces their fingers together over Morado's side, and lets the peace of the morning lull him back to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't going to write anything else today since I'd finished my other Losers fic and then I thought of the sentences that make up the fic description and I just. Had to write it. This is shamelessly self-indulgent fluff, enjoy.


End file.
